Ideas please!

He finished at preschool (which he really loved) 2 weeks ago, and since then he has been really really hard work.

To be fair, he will play imaginatively by himself for long periods of time, but he's terribly weepy and easily upset. The slightest little thing (e.g. being given the 'wrong' plate at lunchtime) will set him off into mournful crying.

He also seems to have regressed in terms of self-help skills, e.g. if I ask him to put his shoes on, it takes 4 times of being asked, and 10 minutes of aimlessly wandering round the house before he puts them on (painfully slowly). Same with pyjamas, getting dressed, brushing teeth.... I'm really struggling not to get impatient and badtempered with him about it.

I'm also finding him harder to settle at bedtime (although realistically, the fact he's not as tired probably has an amount to do with this).

He's a very reflective little boy who thrives on routine and I think it's thrown him that the normal school / preschool run isn't happening. There was also a lot of talk at the end of term about going into reception, (which he's very excited about) but I think he expected it to happen straight away rather than a holiday that must seem like a weird limbo period.

Anyway, I do know what the fundamental problem is, but if anyone has any similar experiences or helpful suggestions, please bring 'em on.

He is an only one and sometimes will play on his own but a majority of the time wants mummy or daddy.

We find we have to ask at least 3-4 times then its final warning then we turn off the tv or take toys away, he then becomes really nasty and says laoudly "OK".

My ds also loves routine, likes to know what hes doing, where he's going. Any disruption to his daily, weekly routine and this unsettles him - even swimming lessons if they do something different he hasa bit of a wobble.

He starts school in Jan but will go to visits from Sept. I had concerns as he didnt want to go to "big school" why do people refer to it as this!!!! The Head Mistress was very understanding and suggested we did a couple of visits...she went to see him the day before at pre-school (same building) and she had a chat with him and said how much she was looking forward to seeing him tomorrow with his mummy and daddy (we didnt know she had done this). He is now fairly looking forward to this.

What works best with our ds is role play - we have a brief chat about something...say the swimming lesson and we act it out with me being the teacher. His move to school and the visits again we pretend to be the teacher.

He also can get very emotional and some of his friends will say the slightest thing such as Im not your friend or Ive got a better scooter and he will burst into tears. Again I have tried to teach him to walk away and ignore the silly person etc...